但是，我从认识的人、旅友，尤其是所到国家的居民的反应中得知，很多人觉得独自旅行很怪异，甚至会觉得不可思议和欠考虑。人们问我单独一人会不会觉得难过，甚至问我是不是更容易遭遇暴力或者危险情况。
This has been sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. I remember searching desperately for accommodations in Taiwan. The university listed in my booklet no longer had dormitories for travelers, and I was lucky when the desk clerk called a young woman out of a nearby office. As it turned out, she was offering to let me stay at her flat and even had a friend come show me around the city the next day.
单独旅行有时是件好事，有时则不然。我想起曾经有一次在台湾绝望地寻找住处的经历。我的手册上列出的大学已经没有宿舍提供给旅游者了。幸运的是，接待人员从旁边办公室叫出一个年轻女孩儿。结果，这个女孩儿让我在她的公寓住了一晚，甚至第二天还让她的一个朋友带我在这座城市转了转。
Also in Taiwan, I met two girls who smuggled me into their hotel room, gave me one of the beds (they shared the other), and took me to a feast with their tour group. When they heard my next stop was their hometown, they arranged for a bilingual friend to pick me up at the train station.
还是在台湾，我遇见两个女孩儿。她们偷偷地把我带进旅店的房间，让我睡其中的一张床（她们俩挤另一张床），还带我和她们的旅行团一起吃了顿丰盛的饭。当她们听说我下一站要去她们的家乡时，又安排了一个会说两种语言的朋友到火车站接我。
But there has also been the downside of those not-so-pleasant
experiences. In Indonesia, a cute boy gave me a ride on his motorbike, and thought that gave him license to grope me illicitly. Many times in Indonesia, boys menaced me, assuming I was willing to pay for their company. In
Japan, I was picked up by a young man who refused to drop me at my Youth Hostel; he insisted I stay with his friends. The friends turned out to be four
girls; I was safe, but one snored like a lawnmower, and it took me two days to escape.
当然也有一些不太愉快的负面经历。在印度尼西亚，一个长相可爱的男孩儿让我搭乘了他的摩托车，认为这样他就可以非礼我。在那里，常常有一些男孩儿威胁我，认为我同意付钱让他们陪游。在日本，一个年轻男人让我搭车，却拒绝让我在青年旅馆下车，他坚持让我和他的朋友们呆在一起。结果我发现，他的朋友是四个女孩儿。我很安全，但是其中一个人打呼噜就像割草机一样。我花了两天时间才逃走。 I've been irritated and perplexed many times - not speaking a language, not understanding or being understood. Once, in Italy, a hotel clerk tried to overcharge me and only gave up after 10 minutes of arguing. Another time in China, a taxi driver insisted I pay more, and I was rescued by the doorman of a fancy hotel.
很多时候，我很苦恼，感觉不知所措，因为不懂当地的语言，不能理解别人的意思，别人也听不懂我说的话。有一次在意大利，一个旅店接待员试图问我多要钱，争论了十分钟他才放弃。还有一次在中国，一个出租车司机坚持问我多要钱，最后还是一个豪华宾馆的门卫帮我解了围。
Having a companion might have helped safeguard me from some of those problems. But it would have suppressed other opportunities - a long afternoon in Thailand all alone in the back of a hay wagon and then seven days in the back of a truck with a Brit, two Aussies and two Norwegians! Eating ethnic food on my way through eastern Korea with four youthful Japanese salarymen. Getting sick in China, and being nursed with chocolate bars and tissues by a couple from Texas.
如果身边有一个同伴陪着我，也许就能使我避免刚刚讲的那些问题。但是这也会使我错失其他的机会，比如我在泰国装干草的马车后面独自坐了整个下午，然后和一个英国人、两个澳大利亚人、两个挪威人在一
辆卡车的后车厢里呆了七天；我在去韩国东部的路上和四个年轻的日本上班族品尝了民族风味的食物；在中国生病了，有一对来自得克萨斯州的夫妻照顾我，给我吃巧克力棒，递纸巾。
The few times I have traveled with a companion, I haven't had the same ample opportunities to meet people. Other travelers can swap stories with you about the local folklore of the places they've been to and often have credible insights into the place you're visiting. Locals are also more likely to see you as approachable and be upfront with you when you're on your own.
在我为数不多的几次结伴旅行中，我就没有那么多的机会结识那么多的人。其他旅游者会给你讲他们到过的地方的民间风情，对于你正在旅行的地方，他们也有令人信服的见解。当你独自一人旅行时，当地人也会觉得你更容易接近，从而愿意和你坦诚相对。
Of course you have to be careful not to endanger yourself by throwing caution to the wind. Watch your back, but don't presume the worst and be overly fearful. Be friendly with people, but watch out for those who are too friendly with you. Don't disregard your instincts. If you hear stories about criminals on a road, take the road - just don't take much cash, and don't accept Coca Cola from strangers.
当然，你必须当心，不要因为大意而使自己处于危险的境地。要处处提防，但是也不要把什么事都想成最坏的，过于担惊受怕。要对人友善，但需防备那些对你过于友好的人。别忽视你的直觉。如果你听说某条公路上曾经有坏人出现，你可以走这条路——只是不要带太多的现金，不要喝陌生人给你的可乐。
The key to solo travel is to open your mind, close your eyes and leap in! Everything that happens to you is an experience, and good, bad or neutral, they will all benefit you in some way. Take those little annoyances, those inefficiencies, and those boring bureaucrats with a laugh. If you despise something, just remember: You don't live there, you can leave anytime, and you'll never have to deal with this again!
单独旅行的关键是敞开心扉，闭上眼睛，投入其中！所有发生在你身上的事情都是一种经历，无论是好的、坏的，或是不好不坏的，将来总会对你有益。把那些小烦恼、那些拖拉低效的作风、那些令人厌恶的官僚主义都拋在脑后，一笑置之。如果反感某些东西，请记住：你不是住在那里，你随时可以离开，你以后再也不用管它了！
Don't ever let a lack of companionship constrain you from doing what you really want to do. Once you go solo, you'll be amazed at how sensational your travel experiences will be.
永远不要因为缺少同伴而不去做你真正想做的事情。一旦你独自一人去旅行，你会惊奇地发现你的旅行经历将会是多么美好。
Unit 5 When Work is a Pleasure 课文A
Will you be a worker or a laborer? 你想做工作者还是劳役者？
To be truly happy, a person must feel both free and important. People are never happy if they feel compelled by society to do work they do not enjoy, or if what they do enjoy is ignored by society as having no value or importance. In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been abolished, the social indications around work, the value of work and the salary, have degraded many laborers into modern slaves - \
一个人要想真正快乐，必须觉得自己既自由又重要。如果觉得自己是受社会逼迫而做自己不喜欢的工作，或者自己喜欢的工作被认为没价值或不重要而遭社会忽视，那他绝不会快乐。在一个奴隶制度严格说来已经被废除的社会里，工作的社会含义、工作的价值和薪水，已经把许多劳役者降格为现代奴隶——“薪奴”。
People are considered laborers if their job has an adverse effect on them, yet they feel compelled to continue working by the necessity of conforming to societal expectations and earning the revenue to support themselves and